The present invention relates to the field of network search tools. More specifically, it also relates to compiling and analyzing data related to keyword searches and the ranked search results.
A search algorithm typically operates to locate the web pages that contain one or more of the keywords, that are entered by a user, and then ranks such located pages based on various factors, such as the frequency and number of entered keywords that are within each page and the position of the entered keywords within each page. For instance, a first page that has a keyword located in the title or near the top of the page may be ranked higher than a second page that has a keyword in a footer or near the bottom of such second page. The located pages are then presented, based on their relative rankings, to the searcher. Typically, links to the located pages are presented to the user in a list format, from the highest to lowest rank.
Although a search algorithm may present pages in a ranked order that represents the most relevant search results for certain users, other users may find the rankings to be inadequate or irrelevant to their needs. For instance, although a user may initially select a highly ranked search result as being relevant for his/her needs, he/she may then “pogostick” to one or more lower ranked search results until a relevant search result is found.
Improved techniques for characterizing the relevance of the ranking of search results rankings would be beneficial.